第四篇
形篇

原文

孙子曰：昔之善战者，先为不可胜，以待敌之可胜。不可胜在己，可胜在敌。故善战者，能为不可胜，不能使敌之可胜。故曰：胜可知而不可为。

不可胜者，守也；可胜者，攻也。守则不足，攻则有余。善守者，藏于九地之下，善攻者，动于九天之上，故能自保而全胜①也。

见胜不过众人之所知，非善之善者也；战胜而天下曰善，非善之善者也。故举秋毫不为多力，见日月不为明目，闻雷霆不为聪耳。

古之所谓善战者，胜于易胜者也。故善战者之胜也，无智名，无勇功，故其战胜不忒②。不忒者，其所措必胜，胜已败者也。

故善战者，立于不败之地，而不失敌之败也。是故胜兵先胜而后求战，败兵先战而后求胜。善用兵者，修③道而保④法，故能为胜败之政⑤。

兵法：一曰度，二曰量，三曰数，四曰称，五曰胜。地⑥生度⑦，度生量⑧，量生数⑨，数生称⑩，称生胜。故胜兵若以镒⑪称铢⑫，败兵若以铢称镒。

胜者之战民也，若决⑬积水于千仞之溪者，形⑭也。

注解

① 全胜：卓越而伟大的胜利。这里的全，是《谋攻篇》的“全国为上”的“全”。

② 忒（tè）：差错。《说文》：“忒，更也。”忒本义为更改错误，后引申为错误。《广雅》：“忒，差错。”

③ 修：修炼。《说文》：“修，饰也。”修本义为文饰，引申为修炼。

④ 保：健全。《说文》：“保，养也。”保本义为养护婴儿，引申为健全。

⑤ 政：操纵，管制。《说文》：“政，正也。”《释名》：“政，正也，下所取正也。”政本义为上面的统治者匡正下面的被统治者，这里为操纵、管制。

⑥ 地：所处的境况。

⑦ 度（dù）：视角，心智模式。《说文》：“度，法制也。”度本义为计量长短的标准，古代有五度，分别为分、寸、尺、丈、印。这里引申为视角、心智模式。

⑧ 量：观察，认识。说文：“量，称轻重也。”量本义为用秤测出物品的重量，引申为测量。这里表示用心智模式测量，即观测、观照。

⑨ 数：测量结果。《说文》：“数，计也。”数本义为计算出来的量，即测量结果。

⑩ 称：评判，评估。《说文》：“称，铨也。”称本义为衡量轻重，即鉴别、评估。

⑪ 镒：古代的重量单位，二十四两为一镒。

⑫ 铢：古代的重量单位，二十四铢为一两，即:1铢=1/576镒。

⑬ 决：打开水坝。《说文》：“决，行流也。”决本义为在洪汛期打开水坝，让洪水畅通。

⑭ 形：远见卓识的现象能力。《说文》：“形，象形也。”《广雅》：“形，见（xiàn）也。”形本义为描画物像，引申为显形、现象。现象为西方哲学的专业术语，即对本质的洞察。

译文

孙子说：以往善于指挥作战的将领，首先确保不被敌人战胜，然后伺机战胜敌人。不被敌人战胜取决于我方不给敌人提供取胜的机会，战胜敌人则取决于敌人为我方提供取胜的机会。所以，善于指挥作战的将领，能确保不给敌人提供取胜的机会，而不能确保一定能战胜敌人。因此，可以提前预知胜利，但不能主观强求胜利。

确保不被敌人战胜，就要做好防守。要战胜敌人，就要做好进攻。防守，是由于我方力量不足；进攻，是由于我方力量有余。善于防守的军队，隐藏得严严实实；善于进攻的军队，行动得快如闪电，因而既能保全自己又能战胜敌人。

预见胜利而没有超越众人的见解，不是卓越而伟大的；通过战争而取得令人瞩目的胜利，不是卓越而伟大的。这如同举起秋毫不能算力大，看见日月不能算眼明，听见雷声不能算耳聪一样。

古时候善于指挥作战的将领，战胜的是容易被战胜的敌人。所以，善于指挥作战的将领所取得的胜利，看不出有令人称道的智慧，显不出有值得奖赏的英勇。因此，他用兵取胜完全在预料之中。所谓完全在预料之中，就是说他的举措必然会导致胜利，也可以说他是在和已经失败的敌人作战而取得必然的胜利。

所以，善于指挥作战的将领，首先确保自己不给敌人提供取胜的机会，却又不丧失敌人提供给我们取胜的机会。

正因为如此，胜利的军队先取得胜利再与敌作战，失败的军队先与敌作战再求取胜利。善于指挥作战的将领，修明大道，健全治理，所以能操纵战争的胜败。

所谓兵法：一是心智模式，二是认知方法，三是认知结果，四是评判结论，五是胜利预见。战争境况生成心智模式，心智模式生成认知方法，认识方法生成认知结果，认知结果生成评判结论，评判结论生成胜利预见。因此，胜利的军队就像是用巨大的秤砣称量微小的物体，失败的军队就像是用微小的秤砣称量巨大的物体。

因此，取胜一方的将领指挥作战，就像决开高山之巅的堤坝一样，高屋建瓴。这就是形，即建构！

商业应用

“形”应该是一种思维过程、一项计划和一种用心了解和分析局势的方法。使用好“形”是为了让我们自己无懈可击，也就是说我们将变得不可揣摩、不可战胜、安全且坚不可摧，使对手无法伤害或击败我们。

如果我们认为第三篇是进攻战略课程，那么这一篇就是在教授防御战略课程。当然，“形”可以应用于防守，也可以应用于进攻，还可以作为一种推动公司前进的手段。

在企业环境中，最重要的雇员是企业的总指挥。军事的总指挥是将军，企业的总指挥是CEO。在一个庞大而复杂的企业环境中，除了CEO的岗位之外，我们还设立了其他工作岗位负责相关重要工作，如首席运营官、首席财务官、首席技术官、首席人力资源官等，具体要根据公司规模和需要而定。然而，负责提供整体方向和公司运营策略的岗位是CEO。有趣的问题是，优秀的CEO的重要特质是什么？首要的一点是，CEO必须是一个有着开阔的视野、长远的眼光，以及对公司处境有深刻理解的人。根据孙子的说法，他必须熟悉所处行业，必须知道什么时候进攻，什么时候不进攻。如果在预测战争胜负方面的功夫不如常人，那么他就不是一位好的指挥官或好的CEO。

如果我们深入思考孙子在本篇所讲的内容和体现出来的智慧，我认为我们在本篇所学到的关于“形”的最重要的一课就是，如何选择一位优秀的总指挥。本篇批判了常规的选择方法。孙子指出，不能简单地把指挥官的智商或者勇气作为成功的保证，而要把成功寄望于指挥官的智慧之上。

通常，人们通过介绍，或者通过外部人才市场招聘，又或者通过其他新的方式来招聘CEO。这些通常由一家信誉良好的猎头公司来完成。有时，人们也尝试从公司内部来选拔CEO。需要特别说明的是，任何新任命的或继任的CEO，都要经由外部组织或组织内部长时期地考察。

让我们试着去理解和认识总指挥应该用自己的智慧确保成功这一点。尤其在战争中，应尽可能通过智慧而不是交战来确保成功。这种智慧也是公司的共同愿景，是推动公司前进的策略方法。那么，这种智慧来自何处呢，战术策略又来自何处呢？

最近，一位知名通信和互联网公司非常博学、经验丰富的CEO参加了公司的董事会会议，会议结束后他就被董事会解雇了。他被解雇的原因到底是什么呢？当然有很多，其中一个主要原因是他没有为公司提供正确的策略方向。他曾经是另一家通信公司的资深高管，曾为其制定了明确、大胆和创新的策略方向，这给该公司的董事会留下了深刻的印象，并在两年前把他雇用过来。但是公司的方向发生了变化，显然，董事会认为他已经不再适合也没有能力再领导这家电信巨头了。但这是他的错吗？答案并没有这么简单，错误确实不全在他身上。他是一位经验丰富的高级管理人员，拥有丰富的行业经验、知识和阅历。但后来公司的经营环境发生了变化，而他无法接受董事会的转变。这表明，即使是一位优秀的CEO，也必须寻求并得到上级和整个公司范围内的支持；此外，也表明董事会是公司股东的代言人。在战争中，一位优秀的将军必须阐明他的策略，而且这些策略也必须得到其上级的支持。

公司内部的沟通很重要，把公司的策略和方向明确地传达给公司的下级成员同样重要。在企业界，这被称为“买进”，这种“买进”也应该延伸到公司的所有者。这也是领导力的体现。在上述案例中，他有强大的“买进”能力和来自员工及公司有关文件的支持。但这显然还不够。虽然人们说领导力通常是天生的，但其也可以通过培训和了解企业文化得以提高。

在军队中，将军通常通过晋升军衔来获得提升。企业与军队不同，在企业环境中，提升职务比晋升军衔的情况复杂得多。简单地说，公司组织架构包含了许多职能领域，每个职能领域都承担着相应的职责，如财务、市场、制造、生产、人力资源等。那么，哪个职能领域的负责人可能成为CEO，或者成为下一任CEO呢？在本职能领域能力突出、业绩卓越的人往往反而不是最佳人选。

要成为CEO候选人，一定要对公司忠诚，并完全接受公司的企业文化。企业文化为公司发展指明了方向、途径和手段，并形成了公司策略的核心。CEO候选人的另一个特质，是建立一套策略来为公司的利益和竞争力提供安全保障。此外，还要具备开阔的视野、了解全球趋势和行业趋势、防止公司遭受恶意接管、积极推行扩张战略等能力。这些也是成为CEO候选人的关键特质。

如果我们仔细分析全球财富500强企业，就会发现其CEO大部分具有市场营销的背景，还有些来自金融领域。对一些高科技企业来说，其CEO可能来自企业的技术负责人。为什么市场营销是产生CEO的热土？答案很简单，他们来自市场前沿，非常了解竞争态势。他们知道顾客的需要和市场的方向。这将使他们成为为公司成长、扩张和生存制定策略和方向的最佳人选。

Business Application

Tactics are considered as a thinking process, a plan and a way of knowing and analyzing the situation with care．Using good tactics is to make ourselves invulnerable to our competitors．That is to say that we will become untouchable, invincible, safe and impenetrable and cannot be harmed or defeated by our competitors.

If we take into account what we learned in Chapter 3 as a lesson for offensive strategy,this Chapter provides us with a defensive strategy．Of course, tactics can be applied to both defense and offense and also as a means to move the company forward.

In the corporate environment, the most important hire is the commander in charge．The commander in the military sense is the General, while in the corporate environment is the Chief Executive Officer．In a large and complex corporate environment and apart from the job of commander in chief, we create other important job divisions by functional responsibilities such as the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Technology Officer, the Chief Human Resources Officer and the list goes on and on depending on the need, the scope and the size of the operation．However, the one that is in charge is to provide the overall direction and tactics for the corporation is the Chief Executive Officer．An important question is, what are the attributes of a good Chief Executive Officer? First and foremost, the Chief Executive Officer must be someone who has a broad vision, a long term vision and the understanding of the particular situation that the company is in．According to Sunzi, he or she must know the industry well．He or she must know when to attack and when not to．If he is not better than any ordinary person in his understanding of predicting the chance of winning a war, he or she is not a good commander or a good Chief Executive Officer.

If we think deeply in the words and wisdom of Sunzi in this Chapter, one can conclude that one of the important lessons we can learn from this chapter on tactics is how to choose a good commanderinchief．Now, it begs the question of, how do we pick a good and suitable commanderinchief? Sunzi mentioned that it is not simply the intelligence of the person or his courage to guarantee success; it is his wisdom to ensure success.

The hiring of a Chief Executive Officer is often done by referral or by examining the good, available candidates in the market either currently seeking employment or looking for new challenges．This is often done by a reputable head hunting firm or we try to find the new commanderinchief by looking internally．It is important to note that any new or replacement chief is groomed by within or outside the organization for a long period of time.

To understand the words of Sunzi, a commanderinchief should ensure the success of the company by his wisdom and particularly, to not engage in warfare, if possible．This wisdom is the overall vision, the tactics of ways to move the company forward．So, where does this wisdom come from and where do the tactical strategies come from.

A certain Mr．X, a very knowledge and experienced Chief Executive Officer, with a wellestablished telecommunication and internet provider company walked into a board meeting recently．After the meeting, Mr．X was fired by the Board of Directors．What was the cause of his termination? There are of course, many．One of the major reasons, Mr．X was not providing the right tactical direction of the company．Mr．X was an experienced executive from another telecommunication company with a clear, bold and new tactical direction for the company．The Board of Directors was very impressed and he was hired less than two years ago．But the directions of the company have changed and obviously Mr．X was deemed not suitable and no longer capable to lead this telecommunication giant．Is this the fault of Mr．X? The answer is not simple but it cannot be all Mr．Xs fault．Mr．X is an experienced senior executive who brings with him his experience, his knowledge and his mandates．The operating environment had changed and Mr．X was not able to adopt the changes of the Board of directors．This shows that a good commanderinchief must seek and obtain the support of his superiors and in the corporate environment; it is the Board, who represents the owners．In warfare, a good General must articulate his tactics and these tactics must be supported by his superiors.

Communication within the company is important．Articulating the tactics and directions of the company to the lower ranking members of the company is just as important．In the corporate world, this is referred as “buyin”．This “buyin”should also be extended to the owners of the company and this also where leadership comes in．In the case of Mr．X, he had tremendous “buyin”and support from his staff and rank and file．Obviously, that was not enough．It is often said that leaders are often born but can be advanced by training and by understanding the corporate culture.

Unlike in the military, a General is often promoted by moving up the ranks．In the corporate environment, moving up the ranks is a far more complex situation than with the military．In a simplistic way, a corporate structure entails many functional areas of the operation each holding on their respective responsibility, such as finance, marketing,manufacturing, production, human resources and the like．So, who will be the natural Chief Executive Officer, or succeed to be the next Chief Executive Officer? The one with the high ability and performance in his or her functional area is often not the choice.

The one who will be a good internal candidate for the job as the Chief Executive Officer must be someone who is loyal to the organization and totally adapted to the corporate culture of the company．Corporate culture defines the direction, the approach and the means to move the company forward．This forms the core of the corporate tactics．What is the other attribute of the Chief Executive Officer in forming a good tactic to safely protect the interest and the competitiveness of the company? The ability to have broad vision, to understand the global trend, the industry trend, to fend off, take over and to aggressively engage in expansion strategies are the key attributes of being a good Chief Executive Officer.

Here, we have some bad news for those who are engaging in jobs such as accounting,manufacturing, human resources or research and development．If we do careful analysis of Fortune 500 companies in the world, one can find that most of their Chief Executive Officers come from the background of marketing or even to some extent, finance．For some high tech companies, their Chief Executive Officer might come from the technology leader of the company．Why is marketing such a hot bed for Chief Executive Officers? The answer is simple．These are the people in the front of the battle field and understand the conditions of competition well．They know the needs of the customers and the market directions．This will make them an excellent candidate to form tactics and direction for growth, expansion and survival.

案例

独具慧眼，创造独特商业模式

摘要：在“形篇”，孙子提出“见胜不过众人之所知，非善之善者也”“见日月不为目明”。这些至理名言都强调了洞察力的重要性。本案例论述了地处偏远革命老区的丁公司创始人李总，胸怀振兴中国茶叶的雄心壮志，组建项目团队深入调研茶产业经营状况，洞察茶产业的商业本质，寻求发展出路，进而创造出独特的茶产业商业模式。

关键词：茶产业、商业思维、智能泡茶机